Out of Home Advertising Brings People to Times Square Billboard

Leading into the 10th Annual Advertising Week, to be held in New York from September 23 – 27, the Outdoor Advertising Association of America (OAAA), along with OOH media companies, has launched a campaign that highlights the effectiveness of out of home (OOH) advertising and its influential relationship to social media. Beginning today, a network of more than 2,500 billboards across the country is proving to the American public that OOH advertising is “EverywhereUR.”

“OOH is the perfect medium to allow advertisers to engage with the public because it is everywhere you are, reaching consumers where they spend more than 70 percent of their waking hours – outside of the home.” said Nancy Fletcher, OAAA president & CEO.

The campaign offers a chance for Americans everywhere to have their personal photos featured on a digital billboard in Times Square and then captured for posterity.

The public is urged to snap a photo and tweet it using the hashtag #everywhereUR. The photos will be filtered by the hashtag, censored for appropriate content, and may appear in a photo reel on a digital billboard in Times Square. The images will be captured by cameras and sent back to the sender’s Twitter account, giving them a keepsake of their personal image on a prominent Times Square billboard.

“The proliferation of social networks has taken OOH to new heights, positioning the medium to emerge as a key advertising option that amplifies integrated marketing campaigns,” added Fletcher. “Through this campaign, we hope social media users enjoy seeing themselves in the bright lights of Times Square, and we hope advertisers see the effectiveness and versatility of America’s OOH network.”

The seamless technology that allows the public to participate in this interactive OOH campaign was donated by Aerva, a digital signage technology firm that enables real-time interactivity between mobile applications and OOH.

“Everyone is mobile these days,” said Sanjay Manandhar, Aerva CEO. “It is for this reason the trend in advertising today is interaction with the public via mobile applications. When we engage users, the ad becomes meaningful. Social engagement also allows us to broaden the scope of measurement, helping advertisers to more closely define their audiences and ad placement.”

Production for billboards and other OOH formats was donated by Circle Graphics, one of the world’s largest producers of large-format graphics.

The #everywhereUR campaign features art from Toronto-based artist Jazzberry Blue. The self-taught traveling artist uses a combination of bold color palettes and geometric figures in his art. Learn more about Jazzberry Blue at www.jazzberryblue.com.

#everywhereUR ads, to be featured on both digital and non-digital billboards across the United States, will remain live through September 27. Twitter users can submit photos using the hashtag through the same time period.